Serco has gone off the rails but Capita is thriving. Photograph: Ian Nicholson/PA

Rupert Soames, Serco's new head boy, has his £170m from shareholders, but those investors will have noted the careful phrasing: "This placing has a single purpose: to give management the opportunity to conduct a thorough review of the strategy of the business whilst remaining within the terms of the group's debt facilities."

In other words, £170m just buys a proper review without lenders breathing down the company's neck. It is conceivable that Serco may come back for a second bite if Soames decides remedial action needs to be radical and if the debt burden, predicted to reach £800m, becomes heavier.

Shareholders will also note that the review will take nine months. That seems a long time, but it is probably realistic. Serco is a many-headed monster these days. The number of contracts is approaching 1,000 and the company operates in 30 countries. Soames' first task is to determine whether complexity is the source of at least part of Serco's woes. Does having 120,000 employers make it impossible for management, even when it is awake, to spot bad behaviour in the ranks and contracts going awry?

Soames would do well to ask why both Serco and G4S have gone off the rails but a third outsourcer – Capita – is thriving. As argued here in the past, there are probably several reasons. Capita didn't rush abroad to preach the outsourcing gospel and 95% of its business is in Britain; it hasn't made big acquisitions; it has fewer employees; and it has stuck to dull stuff, like back-office processing. A Serco that looks more Capita sounds like an improvement.

In the meantime, predictability in earnings has gone out of the window at Serco. The company confesses to more problems in more contracts every time it speaks. The garrison support operations in Australia made an appearance this time – "transition costs" may be incurred to close it.

Soames is a highly regarded manager after his long and successful innings at Aggreko, which was why the £170m arrived without further disturbance to the share price. But the revival of Serco looks increasingly like a major restructuring job.